Gathering Darkness: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Anna Zaires

  “We’ll take care of you,” the first one grunted.

  “Mmm, I hope you will,” she murmured, drawing on her power. They were within range now. She lowered her hands slowly, keeping her palms open at her sides.

  The second one grinned and came close enough to graze his clawed fingers down her arm. “You’ll be fun. Can’t remember the last time I had some Lash pussy.”

  Saige hit them with the full force of her power, sending a wave of energy that enveloped them. It didn’t knock them down; rather, it entered their minds like tendrils of smoke, blocking out their own conscious thought. They stood, blinking and dazed, expressions blank.

  “You’re coming with me,” she said.

  They nodded. “We’re going with you.”

  She turned and led them away from the alley, continuing through the rundown sections of Halice. The few souls they passed didn’t spare them more than a passing glance. Saige didn’t bother with a twisting route. If anyone was foolish enough to follow, the Vipers would add them their collection of fighters and captives.

  She stopped at a large low warehouse that sat at a bend in Halice’s river. The current slowed here and trash collected along the banks. A section of metal roofing shifted in the breeze—a deception to make the building look more dilapidated than it was. Under the loose sheaf, a sturdy panel was bolted in place.

  Standing in front of the gray unmarked metal door, she pressed a buzzer. After one minute it opened on surprisingly soundless hinges, revealing a scowling Viper guard. He had the muscular humanoid build of a Lash demon but, like all Vipers, his head resembled that of a snake. Yellow slitted eyes narrowed at her, but he nodded in approval when he saw her two charges.

  “Took you long enough, but at least you got more than one. Come.” He gestured for them to enter.

  They walked through a room that had once likely been an office, where Saige stopped the elves. “We’ll take your weapons now.”

  The elves stood still and docile as two more Vipers frisked them, removing several blades and the gold they’d been counting. Saige watched, motionless, with her arms held slightly out from her sides. Her turn was next.

  With quick, disinterested pats, the guards checked her for weapons or amulets. Though they’d ordered her not to bring anything back here, upon threats of beatings for both her and Logan, they didn’t trust her.

  Fine. Let them check. She wouldn’t risk either of their lives. Not when their tiny family consisted only of the two of them.

  Next, the guards herded them down concrete stairs that descended deep underground. Moisture from the river made the air pungent and humid. Saige held tightly to the metal railing. She’d slipped on these stairs before and didn’t want a repeat, especially since she was in heels tonight and nearing the point where the use of her power would come back to bite her.

  She was grateful when they reached the bottom and the Viper guard walked down a hall full of cells. They housed males of various species, kept imprisoned with spells that dampened their innate individual powers. They growled and spat protests at Saige and the guard. Many of them were there thanks to her. She kept her eyes on the green scaled neck of the guard leading the way and blocked out the angry words.

  “Here.” The guard stopped, pointing at two adjoining empty cells.

  “You, go in there. This is where you need to stay,” she said to the first elf. “And you, over there.” She guided the second one to the designated cell.

  The guard locked the barred doors. The elves stood, still in a daze. When the effect of her mind-numbing power wore off, they’d be furious.

  Just like the rest of the males she’d brought here. Did they deserve this? No. That wasn’t for her to decide, yet she’d lured most of them. Even if she’d found them lurking on the fringes of society or in the midst of a crime, that didn’t mean they’d earned this level of hell.

  A wave of dizziness pushed at her. Saige turned and hurried back the way they’d come, back past the furious males who would probably die soon. Her ears burned from the descriptive threats they lobbed at her and which she completely deserved. Regret and nausea tumbled her stomach. She’d had no choice. To the Vipers, she and Logan were a means to an end, and the unfortunate males’ lives meant nothing more than dollars and odds in a fight.

  By the base of the stairs was another gray metal door. She focused on getting to it, blocking out the creatures who would be thrown into a fight to the death and the awful role she played in their situation. She ignored the grimness of their surroundings and fought the darkness that was coming to drag her under. Almost there. Their door had no lock, but it least she and Logan had a door. She yanked it open and stepped in, slamming it quickly behind her. “Logan?”

  “I’m fine.” He sat on one of the two beds in the room, eyeing her. “You?”

  “I made it.” Knees wobbly, she stumbled across to the other bed. “Brought in two…dark elves…ugh.” Her face connected with the scratchy blanket as she collapsed. The room was dark, blending with the black that was creeping in at the edges of her vision. “I’m okay…” She’d made it to the bed. Logan wouldn’t have to pick her off the floor this time. She gasped as sharp pain sliced through her skull, then darkness descended.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Bright morning sun shone down as Tanner did his best to beat the piss of out Raul in the outdoor sparring ring. Lash Watcher HQ had several such rings, indoor and out. Ian and Gabriel faced off in a neighboring circle. Evidently they’d all needed fresh air after last night.

  Tanner’s jaw cracked as Raul’s foot slammed him. With a grunt he ducked and then charged, flipping his comrade to the ground.

  Raul jumped to his feet, arm drawn back, and lunged. His fist connected with Tanner’s jaw again.

  Tanner rubbed it and scowled. “Fuck, man, you trying to break my jaw?”

  “Don’t need your jaw to fight.” Raul heaved out a breath and rested his hands on his hips. A tiny trickle of blood escaped his nose, courtesy of one of Tanner’s punches.

  If they were human, they’d be covered in cuts and bruises and whining for painkillers. But thanks to their warp speed healing, they kept going until they’d exhausted every combination of moves. Tanner stalked to a barrel full of ice and water bottles. He tossed one to Raul and cracked one open for himself.

  “You have fun with that nymph last night?” he asked.

  Raul took a long draught of water and grinned. “Which one?”

  Tanner snorted. In the other ring, Ian and Gabe reached an impasse and took a break. The four of them were evenly matched in strength, so this was how their sparring sessions usually went. They fought and ended in a draw, switched partners and ended in yet another draw.

  Sparring with their team leader, Aleksai? That was another story. He always bested them, though he worked on training techniques as he fought them. He was older, faster, and tough as shit. That’s why he had made it into the inner circle of the Lash race’s Commander, Arawn.

  And sparring with Arawn? Tanner and his boys would be unconscious in five minutes in a ring with that dude. The male was eight hundred years old and almost seven feet of mean-ass power. That was a practice session none of them would purposely add to their bucket lists.

  The back door of HQ burst open and Aleksai strode out, rolling his shoulders. He eyed the males. “You ladies better not be standing here talking about your hair or some shit.”

  “Water break.” Raul held up a hand. “Ask…” He glanced around for someone else to corroborate his words. “Ah, shit, well, Ashina was out here for a little bit. She saw us sparring.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I believe you,” Aleksai said wryly. “I’m guessing you didn’t punch yourself in the nose.”

  Ian snickered.

  “Anyway,” Aleksai’s tone changed, “just got out of this morning’s inner circle briefing. We have a new assignment.”

  Tanner and the males waited, focused. This was what they lived for.

  “Allegedly, several young
Lash males have gone missing in the last three weeks.”

  “Children?” Gabe asked, a scowl darkening his face.

  “No, thank the gods.” Aleksai shook his head. “Males who’ve reached adulthood, but barely. No Watchers, or else we would’ve known sooner.” He paced to the water barrel and pulled out a bottle for himself. “Their families are worried, have all reported the disappearances to Arawn. All disappeared from Halice.”

  “Day or night?” Tanner asked.

  “Both. Random times. But one common thread is that they all placed a call to a friend or loved one, saying they had something to do and might be gone for a bit.”

  “Something to do that would require them to go away, yet friends and family didn’t know what the event was?” Raul frowned.

  “Yeah. So the boss wants us to search the city. His secretary is emailing photos of the missing to your phones. We’ll split up, visit their homes, talk to family, and then start asking around.”

  “How many?” Ian asked.

  “Twelve,” Aleksai said.

  Tanner shook his head. Twelve men missing in three weeks added up to no good. “When do we leave?”

  “As soon as you four shower and clean up. You all smell like sweat and last night’s sex.” Aleksai smirked. “We’ll be talking to civilians, and to these males’ families. We represent and show respect.”

  The four squad mates nodded in unison and jogged into the building. Tanner reached his room in a minute, closing the door behind him and stripping his sparring clothes. He headed into the en suite bathroom and cranked the water.

  A thought danced at the edges of his mind as jasmine floated up from his skin. I don’t want to wash her scent off.

  He hadn’t bothered showering after coming home from Hades, so yeah, Aleksai was right—Tanner smelled like sex. Memories of Saige, warm, pliant and clinging to him, rushed to the fore of his mind. His cock hardened. She’d felt so damn good. Fuck, why hadn’t he gotten her number?

  With a mental smack, he switched the water temperature to cold. This wasn’t the time to think of sex. He had a job to do and his needs had been sated last night. Today, the missing Lash youth came first.

  ***

  Fifteen minutes later, Tanner and his team gathered on the back lawn of HQ. Aleksai tossed them each two transportations amulets—one to get to Halice, and one to return. The spell group created the amulets and, when possible, assigned coordinates to them, to get the Watchers as close to their destinations as possible.

  The staff witches did their best, but sometimes the portals dumped the Watchers several miles from their target. At least the big cities, like Halice, were easier to pinpoint.

  “Check your phones. You should all have an email from Ana, containing details of the missing Lash,” Aleksai said. “Ian and Gabe, you take the first portion of the list. I’ll take the middle third, and Tanner and Raul, the last part.”

  The group nodded and gave a round of affirmatives.

  “Good. Let’s go.” Aleksai held one of his amulets in his hand and spoke the words to a spell that would activate a portal. Magic crackled in the air as a giant shimmering ring appeared before him. Iridescent colors swept across the surface as it wavered in the morning breeze.

  Without hesitating, Aleksai stepped into the ring and disappeared. The ring shrank to a tiny bubble and then winked out.

  Tanner and his comrades each repeated the process with their own amulets. As Watchers, they did more fighting than casting spells, but they knew the basic ones to open portals or release magical binding rope.

  Stepping into his ring, Tanner was yanked through disorienting darkness. Flashes of light and color flickered by. Portals weren’t gentle, that was for damn sure. Tanner was used to them, but some creatures got nauseated by the weightless hurtling.

  With a thud, he landed on the soft grass just outside the city gate. He got to his feet in time to see the others land around him. Portal travel was the most common way of getting about on Torth, so the creatures entering the city didn’t give them a passing glance.

  Raul stood, checked his weapons, and gave a chin lift to Tanner. “Ready?” His dark eyes glinted with hard determination.

  “Yeah.” Tanner pulled out his phone and checked their group of names. “Let’s start on High Street.”

  They headed to the first address. The missing male, Rico, was the only child of a mated pair who ran a hotel and restaurant in a nice part of town. His parents invited Tanner and Raul in, eyes full of anguish as they described their son and his interests.

  After questioning them as gently and thoroughly as they could, Tanner and Raul left. “Loving parents. Good kid, hardly ever in trouble.” Tanner frowned. “Doesn’t add up.”

  “No.” Raul pulled out his phone to check the next address. “We’ll get through all of ours, and see if there was a common thread. Any little thing that may tie these guys together.”

  Tanner nodded, and two hours later they had talked to their last desperate parent. They spoke with friends too, which had been just as fruitless. He shook his head as yet another buddy said he had no idea what happened and wished he could be of more help. Tanner and Raul had shown the photos of their four Lash demons around schools or workplaces where they frequented, and every time it was the same line.

  No one had seen the males. No one knew of any suspicious activity they may have been involved in. Hadn’t seen them with anyone unusual. One day they were there—the next, gone.

  “Like they vanished into thin air,” Raul grumbled.

  Tanner dialed Ian. “Any luck?”

  “No. They were all good kids and it’s like they’ve been erased,” Ian said. “One thing, though. Don’t know about yours, but the guys on our list were all pretty big. Muscular. Not thin, not like they’d be easy targets.”

  “Huh.” Tanner turned to Raul and quirked a brow. His friend nodded, indicating he’d heard Ian.

  “Ours too,” he said.

  Just then their phones trilled with a text from Aleksai: One of mine was taking H. Meet me at Ash Street Depot.

  Heroin? Tanner shoved his phone in his pocket. Imported from Earth, the drug didn’t affect supernatural creatures as much as it did humans, but it was still a lure. A popular gateway drug that led to the more lethal native narcotics. Even Torth’s creatures could get addicted.

  Ash Street, home to many dealers and assorted criminals, was a poster-perfect advertisement for decay and blight. Cracked sidewalks, buildings with broken glass lining empty window frames. Deserted streets and rats. Tanner drew his foot back to kick one out of his way, but it scuttled to the side before his boot connected.

  “Hold up,” Raul muttered. “They’re in the buildings.”

  Tanner guessed as much. He and Raul stood at the Depot, keeping a brick wall between them and the gaping black windows that could hide dozens of armed, high-as-a-kite, assholes. In a minute, the rest of the team arrived.

  “We’re looking for a dealer named Bach,” Aleksai said. “Dark elf. Most of the buildings have back entrances. We’ll use those and stick together.”

  Tracking and fighting in close quarters with a myriad of unknowns was part of Watcher training. The five males moved to the first building. The door opened to a huge space that probably had a ceiling separating the first and second floors at some point, but it was gone now. Inside, the stench of urine and blood hung heavily in the air. One window high above let in a ray of sunlight, but the lower level, in the back, was dark. The Watchers all had hands on weapons, or poised to summon demonfire.

  Five creatures moved along a wall. Elves and fae, easily identified by their general species scent. They bumped against the bricks and knocked into boxes. Obviously not predatory or trained to be stealthy.

  “Show yourselves or we’ll drag you out,” Aleksai called.

  No one moved.

  “We want to talk to you,” Aleksai continued. “We’re looking for an elf named Bach.”

  “Bach?” A reedy female voice piped u
p. “Have you seen him? Where is he? I need him.” The owner of the voice emerged, a wood nymph. Dirty clothes hung on her petite frame, and her eyes were sunken, skin sallow. She darted toward Aleksai, reaching for him. “I need him. Where is he?”

  Gabriel intercepted the female, holding her to his side. “We were hoping you could tell us.”

  “Damn Bach.” One of the elves stepped forward. Though short in stature and usually peaceful, elves were expert archers and never to be underestimated. “I’m lookin’ for him too. He owes me something.”

  “Don’t hurt him. I-I love him,” the nymph whimpered.

  “Is he usually here?” Aleksai gestured to the building.

  “He lives here. With me. Oh, I’m so worried about him.” The nymph trembled in Gabe’s hold.

  “When did you last see him?” Tanner asked.

  “Few days ago,” the elf grunted. “Not like him to take off.”

  “How about this male?” Aleksai held up his phone. “A Lash, goes by the nickname Snake. Seen him?”

  The elf peered closer. “Eh, not sure.” He turned to the three others, still behind him. “Take a look.”

  The other elf and two nymphs inched closer. “I’ve seen him,” one nymph said. She wasn’t as strung out as the first nymph, but she was just as filthy. “He came to buy from Bach sometimes. Once he stayed and we all partied together.”

  “Seen him lately?” Ian asked.

  “No.” She shrugged.

  “You find Bach, you tell him to get his ass in here,” the first elf growled.

  “If we find Bach, we have our own questions for him,” Aleksai said. He turned to Gabriel. “Let her go. We’re done here.”

  Gabe released the female, who turned and flung her arms around his waist. “Please find him.”

  Grimacing, Gabriel disengaged himself and stepped back, joining the team near the back door. “Well, that could have gone worse,” he muttered as the Watchers exited the building.

  “Snake is missing and so is his dealer. No trace, no clues.” Aleksai scrubbed a hand over his jaw and glanced at Tanner. “And you had no luck either?”